Ollie Watkins believes the arrival of Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio to Aston Villa will pay big dividends.
Watkins scored his 12th Premier League goal of the season in Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool – a game in which Rashford and Asensio made their first starts, after arriving in January.
The pair have added an extra dimension to Villa’s attack in recent matches and Watkins is looking forward to cashing in.
“It is nice playing with quality players and I am sure in the future games I will get more opportunities,” he said after the match.
“They haven’t had that long to show what they can do and they are still finding their feet.
🗣️ "I think we can really push on."
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) February 20, 2025
Hear from Ollie following last night's point against Liverpool ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/Z5tGP33qmQ
“When they get a few games under their belt I am sure it will flow and connect together nicely.”
Villa gave leaders Liverpool a real test, but their overall inconsistency means they face a tough task to qualify for the Champions League for a second year running.
Watkins added on TNT: “Any team we play, we want to win the game and we will focus on ourselves and see where we are come the end of the season.”
Villa have been hamstrung with injuries and have another defensive dilemma on Saturday when Axel Disasi is ineligible against his parent club Chelsea.
Makeshift centre-half Boubacar Kamara is also injured so if Ezri Konsa does not come back from a hamstring injury, Lamare Bogarde will be asked to fill in.
“Konsa is close to coming back, (Matty) Cash played 20 or 30 minutes,” boss Unai Emery said. “Of course, we have some injured players not available for Saturday but maybe some can come back.
“But we have enough players in the squad to compete, to play and to prepare against Chelsea on Saturday.
“Ross (Barkley) is going slower than we planned because he’s feeling some pain but he was this week more or less at the beginning thinking to be available for this match but in the end he was not. Maybe Saturday he will again be with us.”
